In the Ideal community, many car enthusiasts often ask: What should I pay attention to when picking up my car? What do I need to check on the vehicle? In fact, when the vehicle is delivered to everyone, it will go through strict PDI inspection. With these questions, we came to the Ideal Automotive Beijing Delivery Center to explore what PDI inspections will do for car enthusiasts.
In the lobby of the Delivery Center, brand new Ideal ONEs are waiting for their owners to pick them up. Before they enter the Delivery Hall, each Ideal ONE will go through four steps: vehicle cleaning, PDI inspection, vehicle preparation, and final inspection, with PDI inspection being the most important part of these four steps.
From the factory to delivery to the customer, the product vehicle will go through warehousing, transportation, and other links. In these transfer processes, there is a risk of vehicle damage or partial functional failure. In order to discover and avoid these problems, it is necessary to carry out PDI inspection on the new car according to the Ideal Car standard before delivery, so as to ensure delivery quality.
Vehicle Cleaning: The first car wash, Ideal helps you complete
On the way from the Changzhou factory to various cities, the vehicle will inevitably experience various weather and road conditions, and the appearance of the vehicle may be dirty to some extent. In order to ensure the smooth progress of the PDI inspection, when the vehicle arrives at the Delivery Center, the staff will wash the vehicle according to its condition. Furthermore, the car will be washed according to the standard, restoring it to its original state. Even though it is just a simple car wash, the process and standards are strictly followed in order to measure the completed result properly.
When some car enthusiasts buy a new car, they hope to experience the “unboxing” sensation of removing the protective film by themselves. However, in order to ensure that the condition of the vehicle is in the most perfect state, the staff will remove the factory protective film during the car wash to ensure that all parts can be inspected comprehensively during the PDI inspection.
PDI Inspection: Verification of Vehicle Appearance and Hardware and Software Quality
PDI inspection (Pre-Delivery Inspection) is a series of inspections and tests performed on a vehicle before delivery, to ensure that the vehicle is in a deliverable state.
As the most important step before delivery, each delivery center has a PDI inspection area, above which there are professionally arranged lights that provide good lighting for inspectors. PDI inspection consists of 7 processes, which will check 167 parts and functions. I will list the important inspection items for you.
- Functional Testing
This process includes testing commonly used vehicle functions, such as lights, air conditioning, screens, voice interaction, seat massage, and discharge functions. Inspection personnel will also test every vehicle interface, such as the 12V cigarette lighter and the third-row Type-C charging port.
- Exterior Inspection
The vehicle will undergo exterior inspection under the light strip, with illumination up to 1000 lux, to ensure that every paint surface can be carefully inspected. The inspection sequence also has strict standards: from the front, right side, rear, left side, and then the roof.
- Interior Inspection
This involves inspecting the seats, door interior trim panels, armrest boxes, and other features to ensure no damage.
- Engine Compartment Inspection
This includes checking the vehicle tags, sealing strips, and also inspecting the working conditions during the booster startup.
- Trunk Inspection
Ensure that every accessory is available and in good condition.
- Chassis Inspection
Ensure that there is no collision damage on the chassis, no oil leakage in the pipeline, and also carry out a comprehensive inspection of the tires, such as removing small stones from the gaps.
- Basic Driving Performance Testing
When the delivery center employees move the vehicle, they will perform basic tests on the vehicle’s driving performance to ensure that the driving experience is smooth and normal.
Due to the large number of items and the importance of PDI inspections, two people are currently assigned to carry out the inspections, with clear division of labor and focus on their respective roles. They also conduct mutual point inspections to ensure the quality of PDI inspections.
### Vehicle Preparation: Adjust the car to the most comfortable state for customers
Before customers come to pick up their cars, the preparation personnel at the delivery center will carry out a 34-item comprehensive preparation and inspection of the vehicle, adjusting the vehicle to a comfortable state for the owner.
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Appearance preparation to ensure the cleanliness and tidiness of the vehicle; depending on the storage period of the vehicle after PDI, the vehicle will also be thoroughly cleaned again according to the specific condition of the vehicle.
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Functional recheck to ensure the normal use of vehicle functions.
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Interior preparation: adjust seat position, air conditioning, volume, etc. to a comfortable state.
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Accessory installation: install foot mats and comfortable headrests in place.
During this process, attention is paid to the details, such as adjusting the volume of the car to a suitable range, such as between 20 and 40, so that the owner won’t be annoyed by ear-piercing music. Air conditioning will be adjusted to a suitable range, such as 22 degrees. Foot mats will be securely installed to ensure that there is no slippage. In short, the aim is to adjust the car to the most comfortable state for the customer.
Final Inspection: Vehicle Acceptance from a Customer’s Perspective
The prepared vehicle will be inspected by the logistics supervisor or logistics expert at the delivery center from a customer’s perspective, with final acceptance being given for appearance, interior, and common functions, ensuring the vehicle reaches the delivery state. In addition, after the car has passed the final inspection and parked in the delivery hall, the delivery expert will also conduct a basic inspection to ensure the vehicle is in good condition.
After reading about this fascinating inspection process, are you relieved as a car owner who has yet to pick up your car? Quality is always the top priority for the delivery center, so that all customers can easily receive a high-quality new car, which is the mission of the delivery center. Control over the entire process is maintained by four steps and seven personnel. From the perspective of a car owner, the PDI inspection experience is quite reassuring. Additionally, the delivery center adopts a standardized approach to minimize any testing inconsistencies caused by human factors, which is something that left a deep impression on me.
Just a reminder, the PDI inspection is completed in the back area after the delivery center’s operation, and the vehicle moving in and out of the area is busy, so it is not recommended for non-personnel to enter the back area.The following is about PDI inspection. If you would like to know more, please leave a message and I will take the opportunity to explore for you.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.